20 stocks prove the '80s are totally awesome

Questions about the survival of Radio Shack might make lovers of the ’80s think it’s time to hang up their totally awesome leg warmers and file away the Whitesnake cassettes. But it’s like, waay, too early to hang up on the ’80s.

The 20 best performing stocks in the current Standard & Poor’s 500 during the totally righteous 1980s, including staffing company Robert Half, toy maker Hasbro and jeans maker V.F., are beating the market on average over the past 12 months, according to a USA TODAY analysis of data from S&P Capital IQ.

The S&P 500 can gag me with a spoon. This group of rock star stocks from the 1980s are up 24.2% on average, the past 12 months, blowing away the 18.7% gain of the S&P. The group, too, is up 6.5% this year, beating the S&P 500’s 5.5% gain.

The chart below shows how a custom equal-weighted index of the top ’80s stocks have fared against the S&P 500 over the past 12 months.

Chart source: S&P Capital IQ

Anyone who wants to know “where’s the beef” might be surprised to hear this group of stocks didn’t just beat the market by a little. The group gained an average of 2,638% during the 1980s, well above the 227% increase in the S&P 500.

The biggest winner of the 1980s was staffing consulting firm Robert Half, which soared 18,329% during the decade. Anyone who thinks the company is just a relic can eat my shorts. Shares are up 40.9% over the past 12 months and 13.4% this year so far.

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Some of the ’80s companies on a run are great flashbacks to the past. V.F. reigned supreme in the ’80s with its Lee jeans, driving the stock up 1,086%. But after the acid-wash wore off, the company successfully battled the image of “Mom jeans” of its older brands, and bought trendy apparel makers like Seven for all Mankind and Timberland.

Disney is another company that’s kept the magic from the ’80s. The theme park and entertainment giant enjoyed a renaissance in the 1980s, including The Little Mermaid in 1989 which lead to more hits in the early 1990s. Shares of Disney rocketed 898% during the ’80s. But as the hit Frozen and skyrocketing ticket prices at themeparks show, the company is able to keep it moving.

Disney is just one of seven of the 20 best stocks of the ’80s to beat the Standard & Poor’s 500 both over the past 12 months and year to date. The other top stocks of the ’80s to beat the market the past 12 months and this year so far are Robert Half, drugmaker Forest Labs, telecom Frontier Communications, Kaplan test prep company Graham Holdings, drugstore Walgreens and paint seller Sherwin-Williams.

But it hasn’t been all pretty for ’80s stocks. The Gap is still trying to pull off its rebirth. The company was a sensation during the ’80s — where else could you find “cords” in any possible color. Shares of Gap jumped 3,694% in the ’80s, but are down 0.7% over the past twelve months. Interestingly, Gap is the only stock from the best of the ’80s that gets S&P Capital IQ’s top stock “buy” rating, 5.

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Wal-Mart, too, revolutionized retail and really found its stride in the ’80s, clear from the 4,032% gain in the stock. But shares are struggling, now, falling 2.6% year-to-date and gaining just 1.1% over the past 12 months.

Haters of the ’80s might yell “psych” when they see the list of best stocks of the 1980s. After all, the list is based on the stocks that were best in the 1980s that are in the current S&P 500. There’s no question that some of top stocks of the 1980s may no longer trade today for some reason, perhaps due to an acquisition or other gnarly corporate event.

But children of the ’80s, just tell the haters to take a chill pill.

Below is the list of the best stocks from the ’80s, how they’re doing over the past 12 months and their stock rating from S&P Capital IQ.